• 4grams@awful.systems
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    22 hours ago

    Jokes on them, I’ve been a windows guy so long they have always been directories; I started in the dos days.

    • Malfeasant@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      19 hours ago

      More or less same, but I’ve gotten in the habit of saying “folder” to the younger crowd (at work) to be understood, and now they’ve become interchangeable, so I will switch back and forth in the same breath, confusing them even further…

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    22 hours ago

    I Used to be like this but now I disagree. I intentionally use “folders” instead of Linux directories or gitlab groups.

    Folders are distinct and meaningful, while directories and groups have multiple meanings not clear without context.

  • dismay3915@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    25
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    I honestly like folders better. It’s one of the few good things from windows.

    Files are in folders. That makes so much sense.

    • skisnow@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      19 hours ago

      Not any more. I had a student not that long ago ask about the metaphor, ended up having to explain to the whole class what physical files and folders were.

      • dismay3915@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        16 hours ago

        I don’t wanna be that guy but are these kids becoming really dumb? When I was a kid or teen I still knew about things that were in at least 2 3 decades before me, I even knew how to use them. And files and folders are by no means things of the past! We all still use them regularly. Especially in school/office environments.

        I don’t know how to explain it but I feel like the new generation are so disconnected from the real world and live in a bubble, their domain and depth of knowledge is really bad.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      Yeah directory would make more sense if we’re talking about something that contains phone numbers.

      I guess it makes sense to call /proc a directory, but the things under /home? I interact with a lot of that stuff with a file manager and there’s folder icons on them, so…

      • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        24 hours ago

        It’s because it’s a directory. It’s a list of locations for files.

        In Windows the command “dir” is used instead of “ls”

        • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 day ago

          It’s a list of locations of files.

          It doesn’t tell me which sector of the hard disk the file data is stored when I type “ls”. it lists the files within the container in the path provided in the command line or aprovided by an environment variable or whatever. What should we call something that contains files?

          In Windows the command “dir” is used instead of “ls”

          Yeah they were called directories in DOS.

          The icon is a folder in both Windows and in every Linux desktop environment I’ve seen. It’s not that it’s incorrect to call them directories. It’s just that it’s not wrong to call them folders.

  • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    1 day ago

    Most file managers on Linux, like GNOME or KDE have the option “New Folder”. It’s fine to use them interchangeably, y’all.

  • HugeNerd@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    22 hours ago

    I pronounce “folder” the same way I pronounce “solder”, cuz I’m just badass that way.

  • nullspace@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    If I’m dealing with text, it’s a directory. If I’m clicking around, it’s a folder.

    • Jack@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      The Xfce file manager, Thunar (4.18 with en-US as language), also has “Create Folder…” under the File menu, and in some contexts in the right-click menu.

      Under Preferences, Behavior, it has both “directory” and “folders”.

      man ls uses “directory” only tho, and of course mkdir.

      • flameleaf@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        Thunar also calls them folders in the properties window.

        And most Linux icon themes visually represent them with a file cabinet folder image…

    • ian@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      2 days ago

      I guess most Windows users don’t know what DIR is or even where to use it.

      “Do you use DIR?”
      User: “Do I use what? And don’t call me dear.”

      Opening a folder in Explorer automatically shows the contents, saving the need for an extra step.

      • ian@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        edit-2
        2 days ago


        Here is a container of DIR.
        Which is called a pen! Hmmm.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    1 day ago

    As an old person who started on MS-DOS, I’ve always said “directory”, and “program”. I had trouble switching to “folder” and then more recently “app”. I’m happy to have switched to Linux a couple of years ago so I can just say directory again. The word app, short for application, came from Apple, with the iPhone. No doubt they also liked that is the first three letters of Apple, too. It was specifically for the little programs that ran on iPhone, not meant to replace “program” across the board. But, here we are. Also, “web app” was used to refer to those websites or pages that worked like apps on iPhones, before apps became commonplace. Now, everything from Notes to Photoshop is an “app”.

    • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      i have looked in the oxford english dictionary, which magically sprang into existence in 1991, and the word application did not exist before apple. COINCIDENCE I THINK SO

  • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    Such simpletons. I use the term File Name Category, since “folders” and “directories” are just a fancy way of referring to longer file names used to sort files. You would think someone using linux would understand this.

    I use Arch BTW. 🎩

    • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      Microsoft is the one that forced manufacturers to add it, or they couldn’t advertise their keyboard as being “Designed for Windows 95”, as it is required for the shortcuts (e.g win + d shows the desktop). The “Menu” key was added at the same time so that the Win 95 UI could be navigated without a mouse.

      Now they are going the same with the CoPilot key. And poorly - Windows keys send keycode 0x5B and 0x5C. Menu sends 0x5D.
      The CoPilot key? Left Shift + Windows + F23, obviously.

    • Johanno@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 day ago

      I bought tux stickers to stick them onto the windows icon of my keyboard. However it is a lighted one. So you had tux on top and in a red light the windows icon shined through. It was even more cursed that way.

          • TurboWafflz@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 day ago

            I fairly sure I’ve seen various *nix tools call it super, meta, and hyper. I think super is the most correct but I’ve seen all three

            • ohulancutash@feddit.uk
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              1 day ago

              Super and Meta refer to two different keys from olden times that no longer appear on mainstream keyboards. So they are emulated using a convenient proxy.

              It’s most common on Gnome to use the Windows key for Super, while Meta is set by user preference, often to Left Alt.

              Super and Meta have different functions and are not interchangeable, though two given users may map the windows key to one or other.